Benefits and incentives
Learn about the great range of new benefits and incentives for teachers and executives in rural and remote NSW public schools.
Find out what’s new
The department is progressively introducing a great range of new benefits and incentives for teachers and executives in rural and remote NSW public schools.
See table below for benefits and incentives that apply to permanent, temporary and Connected Communities (CC) teachers and executives from 1 January 2019.
You can use the benefits calculator to find out about the benefits and incentives that are available to eligible teachers at individual schools from 1 January 2019.
Be notified as new information relating to the benefits and incentives are released by signing up to the email alerts.
Go to JobFeed to find the latest rural and remote positions. Find out more about how the benefits can work for you.
Permanent
Incentive school – Permanent
Major financial benefits
| Transfer points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural teacher incentive (less value of rental subsidy, where applicable) | N/A | $20,000 | $25,000 |
| Rental subsidy | 50% | 70% | 90% |
| Retention benefit ($5,000 per annum up to 10 years) | N | Y | Y |
| Experienced teacher benefit ($10,000 per annum up to 5 years) | N | Y | Y |
| Recruitment bonus ($20,000 if applicable) | N | Y | Y |
Professional benefits
| Transfer points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-week trial placement before permanent appointment | Y | Y | Y |
| Additional Personal Leave Days | 2 | 3 | 4-5 |
| Additional Professional Development Days | Selected schools | 4 | 4 |
| Priority Transfer after X years | Selected schools | 3 | 2-3 |
| Years of service required for Transferred Officers Compensation | Selected schools | 3 | 2-3 |
Temporary
Incentive school – Temporary
Major financial benefits
| Incentive points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural teacher incentive (less value of rental subsidy, where applicable)* | N/A | $20,000 | $25,000 |
| Rental subsidy | 50% | 70% | 90% |
| Retention benefit ($5,000 per annum up to 10 years) | N | Y | Y |
| Experienced Teacher benefit ($10,000 per annum up to 5 years)* | N | Y | Y |
| Recruitment bonus ($20,000 if applicable) | N | Y | Y |
* When the temporary teacher has a minimum tenure of a full term or ten consecutive weeks at the eligible school.
Recruitment incentives
| Incentive points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teachers fast track to permanent | Y | Y | Y |
| TEPS Benefit (months of acceleration of priority date for employment) | 12* | 12-18* | 12-18* |
Professional benefits
| Incentive points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Personal Leave Days | 2 | 3 | 4-5 |
| Additional Professional Development Days | Selected schools | 4 | 4 |
| Recognition of temporary service | Selected schools | Y | Y |
* Only certain schools eligible. Check the department's web page to confirm eligibility.
CC-Permanent
Connected Communities Incentive school- Permanent
Major financial benefits
| Transfer points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural teacher incentive (less value of rental subsidy, where applicable) | $20,000 | $25,000 | $30,000 |
| Rental subsidy | 50% | 70% | 90% |
| Retention benefit ($5,000 per annum up to 10 years) | Y | Y | Y |
| Experienced teacher benefit ($10,000 per annum up to 5 years) | Y | Y | Y |
| Recruitment bonus ($20,000 if applicable) | N | Y | Y |
Professional benefits
| Transfer points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 week trial placement before permanent appointment | Y | Y | Y |
| Additional Personal Leave Days | 2 | 3 | 4-5 |
| Additional Professional Development Days | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Priority Transfer after X years | 5 | 3 | 2-3 |
| Years of service required for Transferred Officers Compensation | 5 | 3 | 2-3 |
CC-Temporary
Connected Communities Incentive school - Temporary
Major financial benefits
| Incentive points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural teacher incentive (less value of rental subsidy, where applicable)* | $20,000 | $25,000 | $30,000 |
| Rental subsidy | 50% | 70% | 90% |
| Retention benefit ($5,000 per annum up to 10 years) | Y | Y | Y |
| Experienced teacher benefit ($10,000 per annum up to 5 years)* | Y | Y | Y |
| Recruitment bonus ($20,000 if applicable) | N | Y | Y |
* When the temporary teacher has a minimum tenure of a full term of ten consecutive weeks at the eligible school.
Recruitment incentives
| Incentive points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teachers fast track to permanent | Y | Y | Y |
| Priority Transfer for Executive Principals |
Y | Y | Y |
| TEPS Benefit (months of acceleration of priority date for employment) | 12* | 12-18* | 12-18* |
Professional benefits
| Incentive points | 4 points | 6 points | 8 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Personal Leave Days | 2 | 3 | 4-5 |
| Additional Professional Development Days | Selected schools | 4 | 4 |
| Recognition of temporary service | Selected schools | Y | Y |
* Only certain schools eligible. Check the department's web page to confirm eligibility.
Additional allowances
For information on additional allowances like the Hot Climate, Medical and Dental and Motor Vehicle Depreciation allowance that are available to teachers at individual schools, please refer to the benefits calculator.
The department strongly advises recipients to seek independent financial and taxation advice before making any financial or investment decisions relating to rural and remote incentives.
Definitions
Major Financial benefits
Rural teacher incentive: Permanent and temporary teachers working at eligible 4-, 6-, and 8-transfer point incentive and Connected Communities incentive schools will be eligible to receive a Rural Teacher Incentive with a value of $20,000 to $30,000, dependent on the remoteness of the school. Find out more
Rental subsidy: Temporary and permanent teachers and executive may be eligible for rental subsidies of 50% - 90%. Find out more or view our public link
Retention benefit: From Term 1, 2022, permanent and temporary teachers working at specified schools with 12 months or more of continuous service may be eligible for an annual $5,000 retention benefit payment. Eligible teachers will receive up to 10 retention benefit payments. Find out more
Experienced teacher benefit: From Term 1, 2022, certain proficient permanent and temporary teachers who are currently in a position at 6-point and 8-point rural and remote incentive schools and 4-point, 6-point and 8-point incentive Connected Communities schools qualify for a $10,000 experienced teacher benefit, payable for up to five years. Find out more
Recruitment bonus: Principals may be able to apply for a recruitment bonus, which they can offer to increase the attractiveness of temporary teaching positions of four terms or more and permanent positions in rural and remote 6- and 8- transfer point incentive schools or 6- and 8- point Connected Communities schools. Eligible positions must have undergone two consecutive unsuccessful merit selection processes. Find out more
Professional benefits
10-week trial placement before appointment: Allows prospective staff a 10-week trial before a permanent appointment to a rural and remote school is confirmed.
Additional personal leave: Additional personal leave entitlement (personal, family, community) for incentive schools separate to FACS leave. Western zone schools have an extended summer vacation and start one week later than eastern zone schools.
Additional training and development days: To allow teachers to travel to other centres for training.
Fast track temporary to permanent: Principals can now nominate to fill permanent vacancies with temporary teachers after 12 months' continuous engagement, subject to the completion of a merit selection process and satisfactory performance of appointment. Find out more
Priority transfer: Transfer Points are allocated to permanent teachers for each year of service in a school, with different schools attracting different transfer points. These points are accumulated during a teacher's service and used to prioritise an application for transfer. Find out the NSW rural and remote incentive schools.
Priority transfer for Executive Principal: Executive Principals of Connected Communities schools who remain in their position beyond their initial three year period of engagement will now be eligible for priority transfer to a principal one level above their pre-executive principal appointment. You can apply for a priority transfer by going to ‘My transfers’ in the Employee Self Service (ESS) area of the department's staff portal. Find out more
Recognition of temporary service: Temporary teachers can be credited transfer points for service in excess of one term when the teacher becomes permanent and subsequently eligible to seek a transfer. Find out more.
TEPS benefit: For every 50 days of casual/temporary service. The Teacher Employment Priority Scheme (TEPS) for casual/temporary NSW government teachers accelerates a teacher’s priority for employment. Employment priority date may be enhanced by 6, 12 and 18 months.
Transferred officers compensation: Eligible for reimbursement after serving a specified number of years at their school. Further information can be found here.
Additional allowances
Broken Hill allowance: The annual allowance paid to teachers appointed to Broken Hill schools. This allowance is paid in addition to the Hot Climatic Allowance.
Climatic allowance: An allowance paid to teachers who are appointed to schools which are located in the Western Division of New South Wales as compensation for extreme summer temperatures. Teachers appointed to some schools may be eligible for a cold climate allowance. Further information can be found here.
Country Area Program: Schools which qualify receive additional funding which allows them to provide additional resources.
Isolation from socio-economic goods and services allowance: An allowance paid to teachers who are appointed to schools which are located in areas of the state that do not have immediate access to various goods and services. Eligible schools are listed in 10 groupings depending on the degree of isolation. The greater degree of isolation, the lower the group number. Groupings are listed in Appendix A to Schedule 8 of the Award.
Medical and dental re-imbursement: Re-imbursement of some medical and dental expenses. Refer to teacher salaries awards for details.
Motor vehicle depreciation allowance: Teachers in isolation groups 1-6 receive this allowance which is included in the socio-economic isolation allowance.
Relocation subsidy: Newly appointed teachers may be eligible for a relocation subsidy on first appointment. Further information can be found here.
Vacation travel expense (number of vacation journeys): Travel expenses that can be claimed during school vacations. Further information can be found here.
The Rural and Remote Education Human Resources Strategy was released on 30 November 2017, can be found 
here
.
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FAQs
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Contact us
For more information regarding rural and remote benefits and incentives please contact EdConnect.
- Existing employees of the department, phone 1300 32 32 32 (select option 3) or log an online enquiry.
- New applicants to the department, phone 1300 30 04 98.